Althouse: "Will you be able overlook the fact that if you head to a restaurant today, you might be seated on a backless stool that’s been set up in a reclaimed parking spot?..."

June 29, 2020

"Will you be able overlook the fact that if you head to a restaurant today, you might be seated on a backless stool that’s been set up in a reclaimed parking spot?..."

"Will you be focused on the health of the servers, managers, and bartenders...? Will the sight of plastic surgical gloves on servers remind you that we are still in the grip of a global pandemic with no actual end in sight? Can you handle feeling like a moderately selfish person if you go to a restaurant, even though you know it will feel so good to do anything?... Will you be able to get through a full meal without thinking or talking about death at all?... Are you ready for a server to potentially deliver a silver tray of hand sanitizer to your table?... Does it seem bonkers to you that many of these workers are being forced back to work even though they would make more money if they were able to maintain their unemployment benefits?... Are you worried that this compulsion to go outside is going to doom us to live through this whole cycle again?... Are you ready to leave, like, a 500 percent tip for your meal to acknowledge the very real sacrifices these workers are making for your convenience?... Do you worry that by simply enjoying yourself for a little while you’ll feel like you’re deluding yourself into thinking things are okay, even when they very much are not?"

From "Can You Get Excited to Go to a Restaurant Right Now?" (New York Magazine).

All the little questions are designed to help you answer the big question in the headline. For me, the answer is easy: No.

By the way, I was amused by: Will you be able to get through a full meal without thinking or talking about death at all?

I think there are lots of people who — under any circumstances — could never count on getting through any 2 hour period — in good times or bad — without thinking about death at all.

People like that will read that question and wonder: Who are these cheerfully shallow characters who — pre-coronavirus —enjoyed life on a level where they counted on hours flying by without their thinking about death at all? It took coronavirus to clue them in on the theme that's been playing in the background of my internal monologue?!

88 comments:

rehajm said...: Does it seem bonkers to you that many of these workers are being forced back to work even though they would make more money if they were able to maintain their unemployment benefits?

Supply chains need to be maintained or you lose the tax base. More to the point- despite liberal protests to the contrary, resources are finite.; 6/29/20, 8:01 AM
tim in vermont said...: Hard pass on the restaurant meals. I do takeout maybe once a week though. Weight is dropping nicely.; 6/29/20, 8:08 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: It's sad and terrible what the Wuhan Flu panic by govt overlords has done to the economy and small business owners. Got some takeout yesterday at a local diner. Pre panic-demic it's packed on Sundays [50 or more eat in customers]. It was empty inside and had 4 people seated in their parking lot. I stopped to talk to the owner. He said it should be 100 but now it's only 10. I am not sure what he meant - only that he was trying to describe the decline in his business volume.; 6/29/20, 8:10 AM
rhhardin said...: Avoid people named Tod or Mort.; 6/29/20, 8:10 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Restaurants reopened in NY last week, and I’ve been going to one of my favorite little artisan joints.

Been going to the same joints for years and am friends with the servers. They are very happy to be back to work, and very happy to be back in a social world. Prices have been raised 20%, and I do leave a good tip.

At the pizza joint, the workers and customers tried to follow the mask and safety protocols, but the logistics were so awkward that everybody gave up and naked faces are now the rule.

Since I’ve buried two wives, death is never very far from my mind. That’s not such as bad thing. Being conscious of death reminds me that I have so little time left, and that I must make the most of it.; 6/29/20, 8:11 AM
Sebastian said...: "doom us to live through this whole cycle again?"

You mean, the cycle of sick seniors dying in nursing homes, and then more sick seniors being sent there by Dem politicians, and then everything getting shut down if it's only to save one life, but then opening up tout de suite when progs want to protest? That cycle? Caused by healthy adults eating at restaurants?; 6/29/20, 8:12 AM
Big Mike said...: Are you ready to leave, like, a 500 percent tip for your meal to acknowledge the very real sacrifices these workers are making for your convenience?

Hell no! I upped my tip to 30% when they reopened the restaurants at limited capacity, but will go back to normal tipping once we’re back to normal.; 6/29/20, 8:13 AM
tcrosse said...: Oh death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling,
Oh grave, thy victory?
The bells of hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling
For you but not for me.; 6/29/20, 8:13 AM
Chris said...: You should watch this Althouse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqUwpqjG_jM Tony Heller really has a handle on this whole "pandemic."; 6/29/20, 8:15 AM
john said...: The only way I can go eat at a restaurant and not think or talk about death is if I go alone. I can't even stand the thought of going into a restaurant other than for takeout.

Drinking with friends at a bar with a covered outside patio OTOH is fine.; 6/29/20, 8:15 AM
Francisco D said...: Restaurants, Major League sports and Universities will all be permanently affected by the COVID panic.

What all three have in common is that they are grossly over priced and well beyond peak popularity. They were going to crash at some point. It just turned out to be when the COVID Panic hit.

The COVID Panic Recession will be a major force of creative economic destruction. It is like the Bighorn fire here in the Tucson mountains. It is very messy, but it also clears out the buildup of dead crap so that new life can start out.; 6/29/20, 8:16 AM
buwaya said...: I very rarely think of death, personal death. Certainly not at a restaurant. And extempore seating bugs me not - here we have lots of it, in spite of the weather.

I don't know many people who do constantly think of death either, or who tell me of it.

My mother does think of death, a lot, and with reason I guess. She is old enough to have lost almost all her friends, and husband, and lives in a world of past people, photos, cuttings and scrapbooks, niches and candles and flowers.; 6/29/20, 8:16 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Geeze lighten up Louise. Don't go out if you are so afraid. Stay home with your friend Debbie Downer.

The irony is suddenly he is sooooooverry concerned about the people who are waiting on him at their jobs. As if this was a concern before HE felt threatened personally.

Who is FORCING people back to work. They aren't slaves and decide themselves. The tip is for good service and yes if you are grateful that they are working during these hard times add more. Did he consider adding MORE when it was hard times for the individual worker or even consider the individual worker's life.

The reason that people are going back to work because the need to work to pay bills. Maybe the author should be paying their bills for them during these "hard times" if he feels so deeply.

The answer to the headline is YES...I am looking forward to going out to a restaurant. In fact we HAVE gone out to restaurants. Not silver platter hand santizer restaurants, but great fish and chips...bbq ribs. Also mostly staffed by the owners and their family working their asses off to try to not go under.

You can't obsess over every freaking little detail of living. Like did they really sanitize the salt and pepper shakers properly....or just move them around for show in the restaurant???

Will you be able to get through a full meal without thinking or talking about death at all?

YES. I can go through the whole day and don't think obsessivly about death or talking about it to other people. I have some control in public. Try it.; 6/29/20, 8:16 AM
cacimbo said...: The less cause for hysteria - the more the media pushes hysteria.

The thing that annoys me about seeing servers wear gloves is how disgusting the practice is.The gloves are to protect the server - not you.They are not changing their gloves each table, they would go through hundreds of pairs a day.They are less apt to clean their hands because they can't feel when something is on them because - gloves. Gross - make them remove the gloves.; 6/29/20, 8:20 AM
buwaya said...: The charm of a restaurant is in the people you have with you, and the adventure, I suppose, of a change of environment and a change of food and wine. The social context is the thing.

Personally I would be as happy on a hillside under canvas, certainly I cannot object to a chair under an awning in a gracious plaza, or wherever it may be. But around here the outside very often outdoes the inside.; 6/29/20, 8:22 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: I don’t know where the NYT thinks the money comes from. If there are no customers at the restaurant, there will be no money to pay the staff, and they won’t have jobs. Maybe the NYT can hire them to get over the pandemic.

Besides, it just isn’t that dangerous for most restaurant staff, because of their ages. The NYT starts with the assumption that it is dangerous, and works backwards. But that is based on politics, and not science. Politics says let’s all stay panicked through November so that they can remove Trump for not having done enough. Science says that COVID-19 is probably not much worse than the flu for servers in their twenties and even thirties. Sure, it’s worse for the 70+ crowd, but almost none of them are still waiting tables. Ditto for those with other comorbidities, such as morbid obesity. When was the last time someone as rotund as House Judiciary chair Jerry Waddler waddled up to your table in a restaurant, with your food and drink swaying and swishing on his tray? Of course, it might be safer for everyone if they did set the tables far enough apart that the waddlers of the world could get jobs outside of Congress.; 6/29/20, 8:22 AM
Amexpat said...: I think writers for magazines like this are much more skittish than the average person.

Most people are more robust. Once they make the decision to eat out, they are going to try to enjoy their meal and not whip themselves into a neurotic frenzy by thinking about all the possible dangers.

And if you're truly worried about hygiene, you shouldn't be eat out at all.; 6/29/20, 8:22 AM
Saint Croix said...: Who are these cheerfully shallow characters who — pre-coronavirus — enjoyed life on a level where they counted on hours flying by without their thinking about death at all?

I think Woody Allen's obsession with death is funny. He knows it's funny. He's making fun of himself. It's not deep to obsess about death. It's profoundly silly. That's why it's so easy to make fun of Bergman's knight playing chess with death.

Why chess? Why not monopoly? That's way more fun. Play poker with death. Is that your plan, Bergman, to out-think death? Doesn't work.; 6/29/20, 8:26 AM
Lucien said...: Excited, not really. Relieved — because some of the insanity and stupidity is abating— yes. Happy that the people running a restaurant I enjoy are able to keep their business afloat, definitely.

As the rate of COVID19 deaths plummets, and the MSM keep trying to scare people by only reporting the number of new cases (never based on a random sample), will Althouse fall for it?; 6/29/20, 8:27 AM
buwaya said...: We are cheerfully shallow indeed.

The restaurant makes money, the staff are paid, and they have useful work that fills their days, and we get Rioja and Pinxos and comment on the passing world.

It is wonderful in every way.

The alternative is lockdown for everyone. I think breaking rocks in a chain gang would tempt lots of people out of lockdown.; 6/29/20, 8:28 AM
MadisonMan said...: Oh for God Sake. I worry about food safety every time I go to a restaurant. I can still enjoy myself. New Yorkers real are joyless people out to suck the life out of the Country.; 6/29/20, 8:30 AM
Tommy said...: It's all a game to signal how much they care...

on the other hand my son passed away last month waiting on a consultation with a cardiologist that was delayed to keep the office from being overly crowded. There are consequences no matter what you do.; 6/29/20, 8:30 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: Most of my friends and acquaintances in the restaurant business WANT to go back to work. They can't pay rent or make ends meet while unemployed. Not one person who went back to work in Phase 1 has expressed that they were "forced" to do so. Those who felt unsafe, just didn't return and let the remaining staff work.

THEOLDMAN; 6/29/20, 8:32 AM
CWJ said...: Regarding the headline question, I too would say no. I simply wouldn't go to that restaurant. As to all the little questions, they read like a neurotic early Woody Allen movie.; 6/29/20, 8:36 AM
buwaya said...: It is actually a glorious afternoon for these parts. A couple of days from now it will be Seattle again, so nuts to our siesta, and on to, once again, risk death in the afternoon.; 6/29/20, 8:39 AM
CWJ said...: By headline I took it to be the blog post's headline. As to the article's headline, I may not be excited about the Corona theatre, but I'm happy to go out again.; 6/29/20, 8:40 AM
I'm Not Sure said...: No.
No.
Yes.
Don't feel that way.
Yes.
Don't care one way or the other.
No.
No.
No.
No.

Hope that clears things up.; 6/29/20, 8:42 AM
Achilles said...: Pathetic sheep.

Even the fake numbers where they count shootings and drug overdoses put COVID-19 solidly in the flu range. There are still dozens of things that kill more people every day.

And now there are multiple jurisdictions that have found samples in sewer systems going back to mid 2019.

Out of the 120ish thousand people listed as dead of Covid 7% have only COVID-19 listed as the cause of death. The other 93% have an average of 2.5 comorbidities including things like gunshots.

This is and has been a scam from the start.

You are all being lied to.; 6/29/20, 8:43 AM
Rumpletweezer said...: Some restaurants in my suburban neighborhood have set up tents in their parking lots. The wife and I and a daughter went out last weekend for Mexican and didn't talk about death at all. On that Sunday we went to a fancy restaurant for a belated celebration of our 30th anniversary.; 6/29/20, 8:55 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Come on people!

I was back the day they re-opened.

There are only so many peanut-butter & jelly sandwiches a man can eat.; 6/29/20, 8:57 AM
Openidname said...: So restaurants are supposed to just curl up and die?

I'm back to my pre-WuFlu pattern of eating out every Sunday. And loving it. That, along with getting a haircut and being able to get books from the library (still can't go inside the library, though), has had caused a positive bump in my mood.; 6/29/20, 9:05 AM
Fernandinande said...: "Do you worry that by simply enjoying yourself for a little while you’ll feel like you’re deluding yourself into thinking things are okay, even when they very much are not?"

As a cheerfully selfish moderately shallow character I worry that I don't worry enough, especially not about the Commoners whose Voices are Silenced by their Masks as they are forced - forced I tells ya! - to risk their very lives laboring in unrelenting darkness and unbroken silence to bring me a silver tray on which to place a calligraphic inscription of my Important Internal Monologue on artisanal paper may hap to enlighten those lucky enough to risk their lives for a chance to read it:

"No whipped cream on the shakes, please!"; 6/29/20, 9:07 AM
iowan2 said...: We have been dinning out since Iowa opened up. Things are different. But still good. The wait staff are at least as happy as we are to be there. Except for Menards, requiring a mask, our life is 90% normal. NO, we are not representative. Lots of people still dealing with lots of upheaval. What I see happening is people...freedom to make choices. That is the unbalencing part. Freedom of choice being treated as a bug, not a feature.; 6/29/20, 9:10 AM
Temujin said...: The New York mentality. And also the Michigan, New Jersey, Connecticut mentality. Fear. Terror. And hate of those going about their lives. Call them selfish. Unthinking. Uncaring.

I have not yet been out to a restaurant to dine in. But only because my wife is not ready. I have neighbors who have done it for weeks now. Yes..I'm here in Florida where our guest from Wuhan is spiking in cases, but not in fatalities.

This line: "Does it seem bonkers to you that many of these workers are being forced back to work even though they would make more money if they were able to maintain their unemployment benefits?"

There are people out there- millions of them, of voting age, who simply do not get the crisis of our failing economy. Wuhan virus is not the black plague and it is not wiping out 1/3 of Europe, or North America, or anywhere else in the world. In New York they've had almost 25,000 Wuhan fatalities. Here in Florida, the land that is getting all the press, we've had 3,500 fatalities from our Wuhan guest. So you'll forgive us if we don't live in the same fear as those in New York. Plus- in New York, their Governor funneled Wuhan stricken seniors into nursing homes, all the while appearing on his daily TV show to point out how great he was. In Florida, Gov. DeSantis did not immediately shut down the state, but HE DID immediately shut down the nursing homes- early on. Hence...one key in the difference in fatalities (the other is density of living style).
But the reality is this: you don't get to collect unemployment when there is no business left. When your employer is closed, when multiple employers are closed, and there are no tax dollars, the first thing the states will have to end is...unemployment payouts. And frankly, some people prefer to be productive rather than watch mediocre Netflix programming.; 6/29/20, 9:10 AM
Freder Frederson said...: Out of the 120ish thousand people listed as dead of Covid 7% have only COVID-19 listed as the cause of death. The other 93% have an average of 2.5 comorbidities including things like gunshots.

Can you provide a link to these bullshit statistics? I will provide you with proof that we are not being lied to. Here is a chart of excess deaths from the CDC. And read the explanations carefully, because although it may look as though excess deaths are decreasing, the death reports take several weeks to collate and recent weeks are not reflective of the actual death toll.; 6/29/20, 9:17 AM
JAORE said...: Who are these cheerfully shallow characters who — pre-coronavirus —enjoyed life on a level where they counted on hours flying by without their thinking about death at all?

Sane people?; 6/29/20, 9:20 AM
JAORE said...: Oh Tommy. That is tragic. So sorry for your loss.; 6/29/20, 9:23 AM
Big Mike said...: You are all being lied to.

That we are.; 6/29/20, 9:25 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: "Geeze lighten up Louise. Don't go out if you are so afraid. Stay home with your friend Debbie Downer."

Really, how hard is it to make take responsibility for the simplest decisions? These people are ridiculous.

We go out at least once a week and think of the WuFlu not at all. Now, if there was a BLM riot in the area...; 6/29/20, 9:26 AM
gspencer said...: Went to Barnes Noble yesterday. Sorry I showed up. I can live with the mask nonsense, but not with the removal of all chairs and the complete shut down of the cafe.; 6/29/20, 9:26 AM
rehajm said...: You mean, the cycle of sick seniors dying in nursing homes, and then more sick seniors being sent there by Dem politicians, and then everything getting shut down if it's only to save one life, but then opening up tout de suite when progs want to protest? That cycle?

Yes, that cycle but since Amazon is shipping masks Karen will be mask shaming you while you try to eat your burger.; 6/29/20, 9:26 AM
curt said...: We’ve been dining out two to three times a week for a month now. And you better go early, or have a reservation, because at 50% capacity even the least desirable restaurant is packed, even with all the new outdoor seating.; 6/29/20, 9:28 AM
stevew said...: Where I live now restaurants are open, some with only outdoor seating, others with the indoor dining area but just at half capacity or so. The ones mrs. stevew and I go to are selected based on the type and quality of the food and service. The ambiance of the place is important too. So far the waitstaff have been wearing masks and, in some establishments, gloves. It's really quite comical. They don't seem to ever change their gloves. When they speak to us to let us know the specials, answer any questions, and take our order they are forced to fiddle with the mask because it rides up and down their face with the movement of their mouth while speaking. Of course, none of the patrons are wearing masks, once they are seated.

The rest of the experience is pretty typical. The places are busy (half capacity busy) and their is the usual buzz about the place. Not overhearing much in the way of death talk. There is a decent amount of eye-rolling at the silliness of it all. It seems reasonable to assume that those that are out for dinner are, like me, skeptical of the threat from the virus.

The place we visited Friday night recorded our names and cell phone numbers; presumably in case they needed to do contract tracing.; 6/29/20, 9:32 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Oh, and Inslee's mandatory mask order? Less than 50% compliance down here. That's the silver lining in all of this. Draconian laws increasingly get the middle finger and Establishment hypocrisy is assumed up front.; 6/29/20, 9:33 AM
Vonnegan said...: These are the same kind of people who, when things first started opening up in Southern states, were all over my social media with "SO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO DIE JUST SO YOU CAN GET A HAIRCUT? FINE, BE AN ASSHOLE, GRANDMA KILLER!" They haven't stopped, and the ones I know in NYC are just salivating for Texas to have the same sort of disaster that NYC had - it's like some sort of hopeful schadenfreude. One guy in particular checks on me every few days "how are things going?" just so he can find out if I finally know someone in Houston who has Covid. Nope, I still don't. I know how much pleasure it would give me to tell him about the lovely meals we're having on local restaurant patios (despite the heat), and how much my 17 year old enjoyed being a day camp counselor last week for 200 lunatic boys. But I shouldn't take pleasure in such things, so I keep my mouth shut.

On the subject of excess deaths, the CDC website is pretty interesting. Go here and scroll down a bit to see the chart: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm#dashboard. Under "Select a Jurisdiction" you can pick a state. The more recent the numbers, the less reliable they are, as the CDC is "predicting" the deaths. But it's still helpful, and when you look at NYC and DC you see in part why those folks are hyperventilating, while many of the rest of us are still a little confused about being told everyone is going to die because we went out for pizza.

And now the rumor is going around that Abbott is going to shut down the state again today or tomorrow. Good lord, the world is insane. The HBP I've developed through all of this is so much more likely to kill me than Covid.; 6/29/20, 9:34 AM
Leland said...: I went to a restaurant twice yesterday without any of this drama.

Does it seem bonkers to you that many of these workers are being forced back to work even though they would make more money if they were able to maintain their unemployment benefits?

The bonkers question imagines a world in which people get money for doing nothing without considering what that money would be worth if it could buy nothing because there is no product or services available without people working.; 6/29/20, 9:36 AM
Big Mike said...: Wife and I made a point of doing takeout from our favorite little Italian restaurant. When Governor Northam finally stopped playing little Adolph long enough to let restaurants open for outdoor seating and then limited indoor seating we started going twice a week. The staff and manager treat us like royalty! Extra rolls, extra meat on our entree, even better service than before. They’re good folks and I’m glad to help.

The local Ruby Tuesday just reopened. No salad bar — and one of the best things about Ruby’s is their salad bar! — but the manager and servers were glad of our business, and then some.; 6/29/20, 9:36 AM
Charlie Currie said...: We've been enjoying outdoor dining in reclaimed parking spaces in Long Beach for the past few years. So, what's the big deal?

And, what's the deal with the surgical gloves? Do they changed them every time they touch something? If not, they're doing it wrong.; 6/29/20, 9:39 AM
I'm Not Sure said...: "Does it seem bonkers to you that many of these workers are being forced back to work even though they would make more money if they were able to maintain their unemployment benefits?"

Working is how you make money. Unemployment benefits are money given to you that was earned by other people working.; 6/29/20, 9:50 AM
Sam L. said...: Leftists! Got no sensayuma!; 6/29/20, 9:51 AM
John Althouse Cohen said...: I'm in NYC and have dined at Manhattan restaurants a few times in the past week. We're required to sit outside, the waiters and other staff members are all required to wear masks the whole time, and customers are required to wear masks while inside (e.g. going to the restroom). Some places have signs saying only one customer is allowed inside at a time. Tables are unusually far apart.

Somehow, it was just fine for huge groups of people to gather outside in NYC earlier this month with widespread violation of the social distancing rules. That was OK because they were protesting. But eating outside with social distancing is going to kill us. I'm not sure how the coronavirus knows the difference between a protest and a restaurant.; 6/29/20, 9:53 AM
Big Mike said...: @Tommy, it’s Hell to lose a child. You have my condolences from the bottom of my heart.

My wife’s last consultation with her cardiologist was a phonecon. He says she’s okay, but he never saw her in person and did not put a stethoscope on her. I hope he’s right. If I lost her I don’t know how I’d get to sunset.; 6/29/20, 9:56 AM
Gk1 said...: I've only read the first paragraph and its clear this "Karen" really needs to stay home and cower in their afghan until mommie says its o.k to come out. I've flown, eaten inside and outside of restaurants since mid May and none of these things have crossed my mind.

To each their own, stay inside or go outside. Wash your hands obsessively and wear a mask 24/7. You do you and I'll do me. In the meantime life goes on and will, either with you or without you, so you better get used to it.; 6/29/20, 9:58 AM
Jeff said...: You only live once. Why drag it out?; 6/29/20, 9:59 AM
Big Mike said...: Here is a chart of excess deaths from the CDC.

Considering how badly the CDC and NIH have screwed up in this epidemic, I think a rational person can be excused for thinking that their bogus charts are a big part of the problem. Obama sure as Hell hollowed out those agencies in eight years.; 6/29/20, 9:59 AM
Michael K said...: Here is a chart of excess deaths from the CDC. And read the explanations carefully,

DO they include the gunshot would in Washington that was counted as a Covid death?

The CDC has covered itself with horse shit.

There is a political motive for inflating these numbers related to the BATF raid on Waco. Their budget was being discussed.; 6/29/20, 10:24 AM
Vonnegan said...: Big Mike, I think the excess death charts are actually reassuring. A number of states never went over the excess threshold. And knowing that the CDC is a mess, you can look at the predicted numbers for the past 8+ weeks and know that they likely aren't as high as the CDC thinks they will be. Which is again, good news, since in most states they don't look that bad even with the predictions. The numbers also show you what a completely mismanaged disaster NYC is. If you could count on places like Mexico City to have similar accurate numbers on this subject, I would be willing to bet they don't look worse than NYC. That should worry New Yorkers, but it probably won't.; 6/29/20, 10:49 AM
Anthony said...: This was nothing more than a moderately bad flu. Deal with it.; 6/29/20, 10:51 AM
Original Mike said...: So sorry for your loss, Tommy.; 6/29/20, 10:53 AM
Original Mike said...: "Will you be able to get through a full meal without thinking or talking about death at all?"

Wow. If I were like that I think I'd cut out meals.

I have never really enjoyed the restaurant experience as it is, so I don't expect to go back anytime soon. I do miss sitting at a bar with my mates.; 6/29/20, 10:56 AM
Original Mike said...: "Does it seem bonkers to you that many of these workers are being forced back to work even though they would make more money if they were able to maintain their unemployment benefits?"

What seems bonkers to me is that you are allowed to vote. Sheesh.; 6/29/20, 11:06 AM
Wince said...: Freder Frederson said...
I will provide you with proof that we are not being lied to. Here is a chart of excess deaths from the CDC. And read the explanations carefully, because although it may look as though excess deaths are decreasing, the death reports take several weeks to collate and recent weeks are not reflective of the actual death toll.

I got a very different impression about the efficacy of lockdowns from the second dashboard, especially when selected by state v. state, and the US as a whole.

Select a dashboard from the menu, then click on “Update Dashboard” to navigate through the different graphics.

The second dashboard shows the weekly predicted counts of deaths from all causes and the weekly count of deaths from all causes excluding COVID-19. Select a jurisdiction from the drop-down menu to show data for that jurisdiction.; 6/29/20, 11:24 AM
bagoh20 said...: None of those things are true, not that it matters to you fear mongering fascist.

It is not a serious health threat, because very few people are dying from it, and virtually nobody who is able to work as a waitress or waiter would. You have to be pretty old and sick, or have an arrow through your neck to die of Covid. Staying in your house is likely to wipe out more quality life years.

It's also a lie that they wish they were not working. We have been going out for weeks now, and the servers are very happy we are there. They say so, and every one I have talked to wishes to end the masks and reduced capacity rules. They want it all to stop as much as the rest of us. Let's face it.

You Karens will never, never feel safe again. That's your problem. Stay in your hole if you want, but leave the rest of us alone. You only want to justify your own unfounded fear, and eliminate the specter of others enjoying life while you hide. Sorry if that makes you feel bad, but tough shit. You chose for you. Give us the same respect.

There will be no day when the government will tell you it's all clear, so either get over it or find other work and life choices that fit a permanently frightened soul. Even if the all clear signal would ever come out via the government and media, would you believe that? Do you really think there will come a time when everybody agrees that Covid is over? Will there ever be day you believe that?; 6/29/20, 11:24 AM
bagoh20 said...: Here in Nevada, we still have not reached the level of deaths in just 13 weeks of the common flu only two years ago. We may never get there, no matter how long they keep counting, and even using the totally dishonest and inflating standards they are. It's all based on a lot of lying, or willful ignorance.; 6/29/20, 11:31 AM
RigelDog said...: Cacimbo notes: The thing that annoys me about seeing servers wear gloves is how disgusting the practice is.The gloves are to protect the server - not you. }}}

YES! I don't know how many times I have encountered the idea that responsible workers should be wearing gloves along with masks--and from otherwise intelligent people. Have we lost the common ability to put two logical thoughts together?? Gloves are at best no cleaner than hands (this would be a different story if we were protecting against disease that transmits from breaks in the skin) and IMO, gloved hands are usually going to be much germier. When is the last time you saw someone wearing gloves use hand sanitizer? I haven't seen it; maybe it does happen to some extent. What you never see for sure is glove-wearers washing their hands. Bare-handed cashiers frequently using hand sanitizer and then washing their hands when they get a break has got to be safer than having them wear the same pair of gloves for hours at a time.; 6/29/20, 11:41 AM
Jim Grey said...: My wife and I have been to restaurants four times in the last month or so. Each time we ate outside. Most of those times we did it because we were out running necessary errands and needed to eat. Once we just felt like popping over to our nearby pub for a pint, just to see how that felt.

Each time I felt a little disquiet because the server was masked and we were not. You can't exactly eat/drink while masked. But if either my wife or I are carrying the virus, we put the server at some risk.

I don't think we'll be leaning into this behavior anytime soon. And we certainly won't take a meal inside a restaurant. We do get takeout at least once a week, though.; 6/29/20, 11:45 AM
RigelDog said...: "Science says that COVID-19 is probably not much worse than the flu for servers in their twenties and even thirties. "

I'm pretty sure that the data shows that CV is less dangerous for the under-40 crowd than regular flu, and then about as dangerous as the flu for the 40+ crowd, until some point in the fifty+ crowd. What also seems to be the case is that a HEALTHY person who is middle-aged or even in their early 70's isn't at particularly high risk. As far as I can glean, the main reason the death rate rises in middle age and the barely-old is the prevalence of more co-morbidities.; 6/29/20, 11:48 AM
bagoh20 said...: You know those people in The Matrix that just lived in capsules hooked up to the matrix plumbing? That would be a perfect job for you Karens out there. Then you could contribute without risking anything. Nice, warm, quiet and safe. Besides, the rest of us can't support your lazy asses forever.; 6/29/20, 11:54 AM
Clark said...: "We wish to know how the conception of death will transform a man's entire life, when in order to think its uncertainty he has to think it in every moment, so as to prepare himself for it." —Johannes Climacus [pseud. of Søren Kierkegaard], Concluding Unscientific Postscript.; 6/29/20, 11:57 AM
Achilles said...: Freder Frederson said...

Can you provide a link to these bullshit statistics? I will provide you with proof that we are not being lied to. Here is a chart of excess deaths from the CDC. And read the explanations carefully, because although it may look as though excess deaths are decreasing, the death reports take several weeks to collate and recent weeks are not reflective of the actual death toll.

My wife is a home health nurse and there are some interesting things happening.

"Elective" surgeries were halted completely for months. Things like valve implants and hip replacements and cancer removals.

You had to go into whatever emergency condition you were heading towards before getting treatment.

They had very low census for a long time. For a while they have been inundated by people who can't go to the hospital.

Suicide rates also spiked predictably.

I expect a very big spike in "excess deaths" overall.; 6/29/20, 11:57 AM
traditionalguy said...: Post open up,We usually go To Outback Steakhouse. Limited menu but Blooming Onion and New York cheesecake worth the trip.; 6/29/20, 11:59 AM
Yancey Ward said...: That essay is how morons think- mark it well.; 6/29/20, 12:03 PM
bagoh20 said...: "Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimates that there may have been 10 times more COVID-19 cases in the U.S. than the number that is reflected in official statistics, based on the results from antibody studies."

"If the CDC estimate is even close to being accurate, and there have been more than 20 million cases, the recent uproar over new positive tests becomes less meaningful, especially if the number of new deaths stays flat or continues to decrease over time even as cases increase

If there have been 20 million cases in the U.S., then the mortality rate is much lower than previously thought, and millions more people than previously known have contracted the virus and not even gotten sick, let alone had to go to a hospital or faced severe and potentially deadly illness."

"Meaning 99.5% of all people infected with the coronavirus, regardless of age, recover. (There are other studies that suggest the .5% death rate is still far too high, but it’s still significant that the virus has a 99.5% recovery rate per the CDC)."

"And the nation as a whole posted its lowest Saturday death total since March 21st. Indeed, while 506 people died of the coronavirus, an average day in America sees 7500 people die. This would mean the coronavirus, at least on Saturday, represented just 6.6% of all American deaths in the country. The coronavirus received, conservatively, 99.99% of all the death coverage on the news, however."

Get a grip, Karen.; 6/29/20, 12:04 PM
buwaya said...: We are going out to dinner, to sit down inside a restaurant, without the hated mascarillas.

You can do that here.

And Covid was much worse here than over there.; 6/29/20, 12:06 PM
RigelDog said...: The lockdown has already caused twice as much public health damage as the virus has. This conclusion isn't based on outlier science; it's based on established, accepted public health science. We're looking at ongoing damage in years to come, from many effects including delayed testing, delayed health care, even delayed chemotherapy! It's absolutely insane and disgusting that that our daily national conversation isn't dealing with this fact, front and center. Here's a link to a great recent discussion on the topic from Uncommon Knowledge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZqGSnVt8c8; 6/29/20, 12:06 PM
RobinGoodfellow said...: Does it seem bonkers to you that many of these workers are being forced back to work even though they would make more money if they were able to maintain their unemployment benefits?

No one is being “forced back to work.” Some employees are being offered their jobs back. Just like me, they have the right to say, “I don’t want tk work anymore.” They lose unemployment benefits either way, but it is a choice. They’re not entitled to lay around on my dime forever.; 6/29/20, 12:30 PM
RobinGoodfellow said...: “Blogger buwaya said...
I very rarely think of death, personal death. Certainly not at a restaurant. And extempore seating bugs me not - here we have lots of it, in spite of the weather.

I don't know many people who do constantly think of death either, or who tell me of it.“

Yeah, what’s up with that? Outside of a Woody Allen movie, how many people sit around thinking about death?; 6/29/20, 12:32 PM
Jim at said...: Didn't eat out before. Nothing's changed.; 6/29/20, 1:24 PM
wary said...: Ann: since you are thinking about death, have you looked at the site worldomteres dot info? Click on the menu and pick coronavirus. Scroll down and tap link for usa data. If you scroll
down past the states, you’ll find graphs of daily new cases and also daily
Deaths. It has a button to overlay a 7 day moving average.

Clearly cases are up (more testing?) but deaths have dropped dramatically.; 6/29/20, 1:32 PM
Big Mike said...: Alan Sytsma opens his article with a question. “Are you happy about the fact that, all around the country, restaurants are reopening for real?”

Answer: Hell yes! But the more I think about this article, the angrier I get. Who in the Hell does Alan Sytsma think he is? Servers in restaurants don’t have the brains to assess the risks and reach a rational decision on their own? Oh no! The brilliant Alan Sytsma has appointed himself the person in charge of deciding for them, and since the servers apparently aren’t listening to the brilliant Alan Sytsma, he’s going after the more gullible of the potential restaurant customers. Because they’re too stupid to stay home if they feel sick so the brilliant Alan Sytsma will persuade them to stay home if they aren’t sick.; 6/29/20, 1:34 PM
Big Mike said...: Will you be able to get through a full meal without thinking or talking about death at all?

Wow. If I were like that I think I'd cut out meals.

@Original Mike, if you cut out enough meals, Death will contemplate you.; 6/29/20, 1:42 PM
Original Mike said...: "You chose for you. Give us the same respect."

Leftists can not, or will not, do that.; 6/29/20, 2:25 PM
gerry said...: The most stupid government effort ever.; 6/29/20, 3:09 PM
cubanbob said...: Life has to go on. Hi risk people like me need to take precautions. The rest of the population need to get on with their lives.; 6/29/20, 3:28 PM
I'm Not Sure said...: "The most stupid government effort ever."

Bureaucrats all over the country: "Hold my beer."; 6/29/20, 6:35 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: I’m sitting in a restaurant on vacation as I write this. Death from Covid 19 could not be further from my concerns. With everything now known about this virus, I’m starting to wonder in those still incapacitated by fear are suffering from mental illness.; 6/29/20, 6:56 PM
Kirk Parker said...: "... being forced back to work ... "

Relax, people, it's just the same old lefty projection. Force is about all they know. Well, that and the will to power, enforcing people is just the other end of that lever.; 6/29/20, 7:45 PM
Lucien said...: Achilles:
Why expect a surge in excess deaths? Physicians cause about 200,000 “iatrogenic” deaths annually (or more) so if you cut out (so to speak) elective surgeries the death rate could go dow — this year. But lots of people in nursing homes with five years or fewer left on average died from the virus this year, so that cohort will have fewer deaths next year.; 6/29/20, 9:33 PM